Procopius tells us about an embassy that the king of the Goths, Vitiges, sent to Xusro I before military confrontations began in 540 and whose aim it was to induce the Sasanian ruler to start a war against Justinian. The speech of the Gothic diplomats illustrates both the regional expansion of the conflict between West and East and its world historical dimensions. More and more nations were drawn into the Byzantine—Sasanian confrontations.
Procopius, De Bello Persico 11.2.4—11
(4) They [the envoys] appeared before Xusro and spoke as follows, ‘As a rule, it is the case that all other envoys, O king, join an embassy for the sake of their own advantage, but we have been sent by Vitiges, the king of the Goths and of the Italians,346 so that we speak on behalf of your empire; and now view the following as if he said it to you in person. (5) If someone said, bluntly, that you, O king, had given up your kingdom and all subjects to Justinian, he would rightly say so. (6) For he is a man who by nature strives for change and loves what does not belong to him at all, who is not able to keep things as they are, who has therefore tried to seize the whole earth and has been captured by the desire to take for himself each and every rule. (7) He therefore decided (since he was neither strong enough to go against the Persians on his own nor capable ofattacking others while at war with the Persians) to deceive you in the guise of a peace, while he subjugated the remaining powers by force and prepared a huge force against your empire. (8) Already having destroyed the kingdom ofthe Vandals he subjugated347 the Maurusians348 while the Goths stayed out of his way because of a so-called friendship, but now he has come against us with huge sums of money and a lot of men. (9) It is clear that — if he can destroy utterly also the Goths — he will march against the Persians together with us and those whom he has enslaved already, and neither will he respect the name of friendship nor will he be ashamed with regard to the oaths that have been sworn. (io) While you have a chance to save yourself, do not do us any further harm and do not suffer it yourself but recognise in our misfortunes what will happen to the Persians soon; also understand that the Romans could never be well disposed towards your kingdom but that as soon as they have become stronger they will not hesitate to reveal their hostile attitude towards the Persians. (ii) This is the time to use your chance, do not look for it when it has passed. For once a good opportunity has been missed it tends not to present itself again. It is better to take the lead and be secure than to have missed opportunities and to suffer the most shameful fate ever at the hands of the enemy.’
The Gothic envoys, whom Xusro received at his court in Ktesiphon around 538/9,156 speak of Justinian’s aims to unite the whole world under his rule. They warn the Sasanian king that eventually even the Persian Empire will fall prey to Justinian’s aggressive attitude if the opportunity to stop him is missed. It is true that the Roman emperor’s foreign policy was based on the political idea of a renovatio imperii, a restoration of the former Empire. The envoys, however, also had their own interests at heart when they approached Xusro. In any case, their words fell on fertile ground. Well aware of his own position of power, Xusro did not hesitate to take action against Byzantium.157 Disputes between the Ghassanids and Lahmids, Arab tribes supporting the Romans and Sasanians respectively, served as a pretext for war (25). Not even a conciliatory letter from Justinian 1,158 who was preoccupied in the West with the Goths and the Huns, could persuade Xusro to abandon his plans, and in the spring of 540 the Sasanians invaded Roman territory. It is once more Procopius who tells us about this advance.159
Procopius, De bello Persico 11.5.1—4
(i) When the winter was already over and for the emperor Justinian the thirteenth year of his reign had come to an end,160 Xusro (I), the son of Kavadh invaded Roman territory with a large army at the beginning of spring, and he openly broke the so-called ‘eternal peace’.161 (2) He did not, however, march through the country between the two rivers but left the Euphrates on his right. (3) On the other side of the river there is the last Roman fortress, which is called Kirkesion162 and which is extremely strong because the Aborrhas,163 a large river, has its mouth here and flows into the Euphrates, and this fortress is located right in the corner which the junction of the two rivers forms. And another long wall outside the fortress separates the land between the two rivers there and forms a triangle around Kirkesion. (4) Because of this Xusro did not want to attack such a strong fortress and was not planning to cross the river Euphrates but rather to march against the Syrians and the Cilicians...
Procopius not only comments on Xusro’s determination but also explains the goals of the Persian advance. Apparently, Xusro was not interested in winning individual positions in Mesopotamia but — as had been the intention of Sapur I in the third century (5) — aimed immediately at the heartlands of the Byzantine East. He refrained from an attack on the strong Roman fortress Kirkesion in order to reach Syria and Cilicia as quickly as possible.349 The element of surprise was not to be spoilt by a long siege, which would have slowed down his advance. Having captured Soura350 he marched through Sergiopolis and Hierapolis, both of which paid a ransom,351 and then headed for his actual target: Antioch. The Sasanians took and destroyed the city of Beroia (Aleppo),352 which was situated between Antioch and Hierapolis, and in June of 540 laid siege to the Syrian metropolis. Procopius describes the siege and capture of the city, which fell into Sasanian hands within days, in detail.168
Procopius, De bello Persico 11.10.4—9
(4) But I get dizzy describing such great suffering and committing it to the memory of future times, and I cannot understand how it can be god’s will to lift the fortune of a man or a place into the sky but then again to throw it down and to destroy it for no reason, as far as we can tell. (5) For it is not allowed to say that he does not do everything with reason, he who at the time did not mind watching Antioch being razed to the ground at the hands of the most unholy man, Antioch, whose beauty and splendour in every respect may not even now be entirely concealed. (6) The church alone was left after the city had been destroyed, and this through the efforts and foresight of the Persians who were in charge of this task. (7) And there were also many houses left around the so-called cerataeum, not because of the foresight of any human being but because they were situated on the outskirts of the city and not adjacent to any other building so that the fire could not get to them at all. (8) The barbarians also burnt what was outside the wall, except for the sanctuary which is dedicated to St Julianus, and by chance also the buildings which had been built around this sanctuary. (9) For the envoys happened to make their stop here.353 354
The fall of Antioch left a deep impression on the Byzantine historian, who was puzzled by the events. It was indeed primarily the conquest of Antioch that made Xusro famous in the Western world,170 and the Sasanian ruler added to his reputation by not missing any opportunity to remind the world of his deeds. Not far from the Sasanian capital Ktesiphon he built a new city that was modelled upon the conquered city; he named the new foundation Veh-Antiok-Xusro (= ‘Xusro made this city better than Antioch’) and settled Antioch’s deported population here (36).171 The capture of Antioch, however, did not bring any resolution but was merely a prelude to further military engagements that lasted for twenty years172 before in 562 an official peace concluded this second Sasanian—Byzantine War of the sixth century (20).
World History
